When Jim Harbaugh became Michigan’s football coach, one of his many innovative concepts was “Signing Day with the Stars.”

Flash forward a couple years and the concern is whether Harbaugh is capable of signing stars.

After recruiting classes in 2016 and 2017 widely considered in the Top 10, and bordering on the Top 5, the Wolverines’ class this past year was, well, in the Top 25.

It was the latest sign that instead of trending up as much anticipated with Harbaugh at the helm, the Wolverines appear to be moving down.

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Michigan was 8-5 last season. They lost to Michigan State and Ohio State in Ann Arbor. They were the only Big Ten squad to lose its bowl game, even though a heavy favorite vs. South Carolina. The Wolverines didn’t beat a team with a winning record in ’17.

Now it seems like recruiting didn’t go particularly well, which has long been the least of Michigan’s problems. The Wolverines’ eggs appear to all be placed in quarterback transfer Shea Patterson from Mississippi. He is an extraordinary talent, but it’s unknown yet whether he will be eligible for the ’18 season.

Then there’s the schedule. Notre Dame is back on in the fall. It’s on the road. So are the Northwestern, MSU and Ohio State games. Penn State and Wisconsin visit Ann Arbor.

Michigan was 10-3 its first two seasons under Harbaugh, but it resulted in no titles, so there was some impatience. Michigan hasn’t won a Big Ten title since 2004, nor been to the Big Ten Championship game since its inception.

How would another 8-5 look in Harbaugh’s fourth year, especially on the heels of two of his first four recruiting classes not in the consensus Top 20 (the first year was understandable because of the late start).

It’s why the proposed trip taking the team to France to end spring practice is raising eyebrows. It’s why tweaking the collective nose of the SEC Harbaugh’s first few years is now the subject of punch lines for pundits such as ESPN’s renown Nick Saban bootlicker Paul Finebaum, especially with Alabama and Georgia meeting in an epic College Football Playoff championship game.

The justification for Michigan’s recruiting class essentially is suggesting MSU and Wisconsin have been winning Big Ten championships with such talent for years.

Who knows, maybe incoming QB Joe Milton will become a taller version of Baker Mayfield, and preferred walk ons starring will begin sprouting up on campus in Ann Arbor, MI. like its Madison, WI.

Michigan has talent - lots of it. But how can it have a dozen scholarship players on the unit and not have a better offensive line? Why hasn’t Harbaugh, as good a QB developer as can be found, developed a QB?

How can the Wolverines, given Harbaugh’s impressive track record and the university’s enormous resources and reach, be in such a predicament?

Maybe it’s a mirage? Perhaps this is the year after all.

Michigan fans, cross your fingers, knock on wood and hope.

Because the tangible factors simply don’t look promising at this stage.